Community Preps to Cope with Facility Completion

Community Preps to Cope with Facility Completion

A stockpile of weapons of mass destruction is in central Kentucky but they're on target to be destroyed, safely, at the bluegrass Army Depot.

A stockpile of weapons of mass destruction is in central Kentucky but they're on target to be destroyed, safely, at the Bluegrass Army Depot.

“This plan is being designed and is being constructed based on the very specific weapons that are stored here at Bluegrass,” said Jeff Brubaker, site project manager for the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant. “Each of these facilities has its own unique aspects to deal with the safe disassembly and destruction of the stockpile.”

Only ten years into the project, more than $100-million dollars have been spent with Kentucky companies and project payroll is more than $500 million dollars.

“This is a large capitol investment project and the project will continue for about the next ten years,” said Brubaker.

With about a quarter of the project still to go, community members are looking to when the project is expected to be complete 2023.

“There will be approximately one and a half billion dollars of infrastructure that will be here after the project is completed and roughly 1,200 highly skilled and security cleared workers looking for something to do,” said Craig Williams, co-chair for the Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board

These concerned community members have formed the Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board. They hope planning ahead will to avoid the crisis other cities have had.

“All of a sudden there was 900 or 1,000 people unemployed leaving the community the facility was not looked at for re-purposing so all of that infrastructure didn't gain them anything,” said Williams.

The Community Advisory Board is looking into ways to safely reuse the building to attract business and replace the jobs and money that could be gone when the weapons are destroyed.